How Cannabis Can Make Chemo-Induced Nausea Disappear

Fred Feldman is one of the first people to ever receive chemotherapy treatment. One of the symptoms of chemotherapy that was making him suffer was the chemo-induced nausea. There are several potential side effects of chemo but Feldman, a retired massage therapist, couldn’t help but barf every time he had to get chemo.

“I would throw up as soon as I walked into the treatment room,” he said. “The smell would make me start to vomit. It was just horrible.”

A nurse that noticed his pain asked Fred if he “ever tried marijuana?” He replied no. That’s when she gave him the life-changing advice to “get some.”

Freddie Got High

Feldman was literally sick of chemo and decided to take the nurse’s advice. Cannabis was illegal so he copped some buds from a family friend that showed him how to smoke out of a little pipe. The nurses were supportive. They’d let him know before it was his turn for chemo so he could go to the bathroom and spark a bowl first.

He was willing to risk facing any repercussions just to stop the suffering. “I told my wife if somebody stopped me and found it, I’d tell them why I was using it. I didn’t care. It was more important that it kept me from throwing up.”

Fred insisted his marijuana use was medicinal and he isn’t a fan of recreational use. Cannabis would make him feel like “time was really weird,” he said. “You’re paranoid. You’re not yourself. I don’t recommend it for recreational use. I believe it should be controlled the way medicines are.”

He got some weed, started partaking and said his nasty nausea and vomiting disappeared “like a miracle.”

Cannabis vs. Cancer

The American Cancer Society lists a number of small studies that illustrate cannabis can help in treating chemo-induced nausea. Cancer patients have used cannabis to help with other symptoms of chemo like lack of appetite and pain.

“There have been some early clinical trials of cannabinoids in treating cancer in humans, and more studies are planned,” the American Cancer Society stated. “While the studies so far have shown that cannabinoids can be safe in treating cancer, they do not show that they help control or cure the disease.”

Feldman says that he recommends it to pretty much anyone he meets with cancer. “I have recommended it many, many, many times. One lady in my first support group had breast cancer. I remember teaching her how to use it,” he said. “I really feel that God made this stuff.”